Hydraulic punch



Feb. 11, 1936. F. SCOTT HYDRAULIC PUNCH Filed Aug. 4, 1930 Patented F eb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HYDRAULIC PUNCH Texas Application August 4, 1930, Serial No. 473,109

6 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for handling and punching holes in billets of iron, steel or similar metal objects.

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus for receiving the billet from the furnace, moving it into adjusted position and punching a hole or recess therein.

The device may be employed, for example, in forming a recess in a billet of steel to receive a porter bar by means of which the billet may be handled in moving the billet to different positions for forging operations thereon. Such billets are employed in forming tool joints, and without such a porter bar receiving recess, it is extremely l5 difficult to properly manipulate the billet in the subsequent operations of forming the body of the tool joint.

I aim to provide an apparatus for forming the recess in the billet which may be placed below 20 and transversely of the mouth of the furnace where it will be out of the way and will occupy a minimum of space.

In the drawing herewith, Fig. 1 is a front view of a furnace showing my apparatus in central 25 vertical section on 'the plane ll of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the plane 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device.

The drawing shows a furnace I which may be 30 any ordinary type having a forward opening 2 therein to receive. the charge. In front of the furnace a shallow well 3 is formed to receive the cylinder 4 of the device and thus allow the same to be mounted below the level of the door 2.

:5 The invention includes a frame of two'posts or supports 5 and 6 to which are secured the end plates 1. and 8 respectively. To the plate I is secured a cradle 9 mounted upon a pair of parallel through shafts or rods l0. Said shafts ex- 0 tend through the end plates 1 and 8 in spaced relation and serve as a support for the punching apparatus. The cradle 9 includes an end wall I l adjacent the end plate I and formed with a central threaded opening therein to receive the 5 adjustable screw it. The end wall is connected by a transversely curved plate I4 to the end rim 52 also secured to the shafts l0.

On a level with the cradle 9 is a supporting rack i 5 and cylinder I6. Within the cylinder is a pis- 59 ton ll having a piston rod or punch contacting therewith. Said punch is supported upon the rack l5 which is slidable upon the shafts It]. A cross plate l9 on the rack forms a bearing for the upper side of the punch bar. The cylinder a; it has an inlet port 20 at its outer end to admit pressure fluid, preferably oil, behind the piston to move the punch.

The rack [5 has laterally projecting fingers 2| at its forward end to engage with rods 22 extending rearwardly past the cylinder and into tubes 23. The outer ends of the rods have heads 24 thereon to form a stop for springs 25 mounted on said rods and bearing at one end against said heads and'at the other against lugs 26 at the end of the frame adjacent the end plate 8. Said 1O springs tend to hold the piston, rack and punch bar retracted as shown in Fig. 1.

The billet is usually a rectangular block 21, and the holding member 28 is shaped to receive it. The holder is formed to receive the billet as it is moved out of the furnace, the end of the holder away from said furnace having a pair of stop fingers 29 to lirnit the movement of the billet. The holder has a downwardly extending sleeve 30 to receive a shaft 3| of a plunger 32 working within the cylinder 4 previously noted. Said cylinder has an inlet 33 at its lower end for pressure fluid to move said plunger.

The shaft 3| is guided, by a sleeve 34 and has a radial pin thereon projecting into a slot 35 in said sleeve curved to cause the rotation of said shaft through 90 as it is moved vertically therein. The sleeve 34 is held within a bushing 36 supported on opposite sides within a frame 31 including posts connected at their lower ends to said cylinder and depending from the shafts In at their upper ends.

To engage and hold the billet firmly while the hole is punched therein, I provide a pair of op posed clamping arms 40 pivoted between their ends upon the shafts ill at the upper ends of the posts 31. The upper ends of the arms 49 are formed to engage the billet, and the lower ends are pivotally connected to links 4| which are likewise engaged at 42 to levers 43. The levers 43 are moved through links 45 connected. to a collar 46 slidable upon the plunger shaft 3|. Springs 41 secured to the links 4| and to the frame 31 tend to hold the arms 49 in open position.

In operating my device the structure is in- 45 stalled transversely of the furnace front so as to take up a minimum amount of space. It is aLso below the furnace door 2 out of the way. The plunger with the hod or holder 26 is moved upwardly even with the furnace opening and a bil- 50 let is drawn into the hod which in its upper position is rotated to a position with its longitudinal axis toward the furnace. The pressure in the cylinder 4 is then released and the hod with its billet therein drops downwardly, the sleeve 30 on the shaft 3| passing through the guide opening 48 in the frame and contacting at last with the collar or bushing 46 moving said bushing downwardly and actuating the clamping arms 40 to engage and hold the billet in the hod. As the shaft descends it is rotated to bring the end thereof toward the punch through the pin and slot device 34-35. V

The hydraulic punch is then operated to force the punch bar I 8 into the end of the heated billet to form the opening in the billet to receive the porter bar. The pressure on the piston is then released and the springs 25 move the crosshead l5 and the punch back into the Fig. 3 position. The billet may be again elevated and removed so that the process may be repeated.

The adjustable thrust screw I3 makes it possible to employ my device with different lengths of billets. The device is easily operated and makes a material saving in the time consumed and the labor performed in performing the operation of 2. A holder to receive a billet from a furnace, i means to lower said billet, means to align said billet with a punch bar, opposite gripping arms and means partially on said arms operable by the lowering of said billet to clamp said billet in, position to be punched.

3. A holderto receive a billet from a furnace,

an upright supporting shaft therefor, means to raise and lower said shaft, means actuated by the vertical movement of said shaft to rotate the same, and means including opposed gripping means to clamp said billet in said hod operable through the lowering of said hod.

4. The combination of a vertical shaft, a hod thereon shaped to receive a billet from a furnace,

means to move said shaft vertically to and from position'adjacent said, furnace, and billet grip ping means comprising oppositely disposed arms,

means to move said shaft vertically to and from 7 position adjacent said furnace, a guide sleeve for said shaft, means thereon circumferentially to adjust the position of said hod, billet gripping means, means for actuating said gripping means to grip the billet and means on said shaft cooperating with said second mentioned means to actuate the same during movement of said shaft and at a' predetermined position to clamp against and hold said billet in said hod. V

6. The combination of a vertical shaft, a hod thereon shaped'to receive a billet from a furnace, means to move said shaft vertically to and from position adjacent said furnace, means on said shaftto cause a partial rotation thereof when said shaft is moved vertically, and billet-gripping said shaft to clamp said billet in said hod.

FLOYD L. SCOTT. 

